Clash series aims to revive Calypso
A new series, the Caribbean Calypso Community Championship Clash, or just the Clash will showcase talented Caribbean artistes versed in Calypso.
The show will see the calypsonians clashing on a virtual battlefield. The series, created by Caribbean Vizion in collaboration with the Caribbean Calypso Community, will see singers ssigned to one of five groups engaged in sing-offs. Along with featuring the talents of artistes, the show is also an exhibition for Calypso and Caribbean heritage.
According to a release, the Clash is not considered a competition as only the audience will judge.
The show was said to have been crafted similarly to the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) where cricketers of various nationalities within the Caribbean play for teams that select them.
The five teams representing five territories will clash in seven categories. Every Saturday from September 25 the teams will meet virtually for battle. Following the first clash, the show will be broadcast on Gayelle The Caribbean, a Trinidad television network and sole sponsor of the series.
Guyanese Calypsonian Roger ‘Young Bill Rogers’ Hinds will lead one of the teams called the Guyana Gladiators. He shared that owing to the decline in the Calypso art form in the Caribbean and the rest of the world to an extent, Caribbean Vizon decided on a new project that will revive the genre.
The other teams are the Trinidad and Tobago Punishing Punishers led by the Kurt ‘The Last Bardjohn of Calypso’ Allen, St Kitts and Nevis Legends led by ‘King Socrates’, Grenada Rebels led by ‘Scholar’ and the Global Goliaths led by Joanna ‘Tigress’ Rowley. Unlike the other teams the Global Goliaths is headed by a Trinidad-born Calypsonian who currently lives in the USA and its members are Caribbean artistes now residing in North America and the UK.
The members of the Guyana Gladiators are USbased Guyanese Claude Bascom, Adrian Clarke from Barbados, the ‘Inspector’ from Grenada, Queen B from Anguilla, and former Junior Calypso Monarch Guyanese Jamal Stewart. Kirk ‘Chow Pow’ Jardine who is also on the team will be the emcee while Nigel ‘Soca Fox’ Worrell is the team’s manager. Each team leader was allowed to choose artistes from their country but also needed to include some from other countries. They will compete in five different categories: Social Commentary, Political Commentary, Humorous, Party/Soca, and Open. Each of the artistes on the team will be designated to a category.
The show is pay per view and viewers will be charged US$20 which they can pay with a debit or credit card.